When Hope Grabbed My Hand
by MoonbeamsUnicorn
Summary: Agent Ward has a sister, Belle. Agent Belle is trusted by Coulson to train SHIELD's newest recruits, even though most of them are older then her. But Belle is terrified of losing one of them and begins to act recklessly because of it. Will the team be able to get her under control, or will the unthinkable happen? Rated M for violence and language (plus I'm paranoid).


**_A/N:_** I'm a new writer and this is my first fic. Be kind, please don't flame me. This idea was actually a dream I had a while ago, the characters that you don't recognize were made up by my imaginative mind. Just a warning, the Avengers will be in here later as well, Spiderman included. Reviews are appreciated.

 ** _Disclaimer:_** I don't own Agents of Shield or any of its characters-cries in a corner-the only things I own are the characters I invented and the plot. Enjoy!

* * *

 _Belle's POV:_

This day was really not going as planned. All we were supposed to do was collect the soon-to-be recruits and take them to the bus. Easy right? If only. Things started to go down-hill right about when an enemy aircraft aimed its weapons at our temporary transportation.

 _RUMBLE_

There were a few collective gasps around the group. I looked suspiciously out the window.

"Ward, that didn't sound normal," Coulson barked behind me.

"That's because it wasn't, Sir," Grant called from the cockpit, "A hostile aircraft has entered our perimeter and currently has its weapons trained on us."

"Do we need to abandon the plane?" I spoke up.

"Not yet, let's see what they do," Coulson stated expertly.

I found myself smirking in spite of everything. That's Coulson for you, always the optimist.

"You know, this makes me wish the cavalry was here," I said.

Coulson chuckled dryly, "Yeah, me too."

I took a moment to look at our group. There was Coulson, the leader, Ward, the specialist, and a bunch of teenagers with the potential to be SHIELD agents. Alisa Karr: 16, Genius, IQ of 162 specializing in genetics. Expected to work with FitzSimmons, but also an aspiring strategist, so there is a possibility of active field work. Her grandparents died in a fire when she was 8. Jason Michaels: 16, Average intelligence, hand-to-hand combat specialist, black belt in kung-fu, karate, and jujitsu. His legal guardians recently died in a car accident. Definite field agent. Sadie Miller: 17, Orphan, kleptomaniac, skilled getaway driver. She escaped her foster home at the age of 13 and has been on the run from CPS ever since. Jake Goodson: 13, very skilled technician, probably Fitz's future apprentice, his adoptive father, a rather famous engineer, mysteriously disappeared 3 years ago. And last but not least, Ethan (We don't know his last name): 6, he wasn't on our list. I found him on the streets and convinced Coulson to take him with us. He's mute, we suspect that it's selective, and he seems to only trust me, considering he has been holding my hand since I found him.

But the worst part, Coulson's trusting me to be their S.O. (supervising officer). Ward said it would be a chance to prove myself as an agent. So, I have to train them, teach them what it means to be an agent and a part of SHIELD, even though most of them are older than me.

* * *

I was jerked from my thoughts when I heard Grant curse from the cockpit.

 _RUMBLE_

"Belle, I'm going to need you to pilot!" came the cry from the cockpit.

I started towards the copilot seat without a second thought, letting go of Ethan's hand in the process, when I felt a tug on the hem of my flak jacket. I looked down and was met with watery green eyes. I was torn, Grant needed a pilot, but Ethan needed me. I made my decision quickly. I scooped up Ethan and sat him down in between the pilot and copilot seats to keep an eye on him.

"What's the situation?" I inquired. I just knew it had to be bad, Ward was an impressive pilot on his own and rarely needed a right-hand. If he needed me to pilot that meant whatever was going on required immediate evasive action.

"They're going to fire torpedoes with tracers, I can try to operate the indicator for you but I can't guarantee that it will work," he states.

"Alright," I weighed my options, stay and fight or abandon ship. Well there was no possibility of fighting back, if I stay this battle will be purely evasive on my side, but if we all jump, there is a very large possibility of them hitting one of us, "If this gets too crazy we're going to have to parachute out of here," I turned around to address the kids, "If that happens you guys have to stay with either Coulson or Ward. Pick one, because they won't be able to keep track of you if you keep switching in between them. In the meantime, this ride is going to get rough so strap in."

Ward looked around and realized something, "Damn, there's not enough seats," he muttered.

"Then put someone in your lap, Grant, We don't have time for this- Shit!" I made hard barrel roll to avoid an oncoming torpedo.

After everyone recovered from the sudden somersault, Coulson stumbled up to the pilot seat, "What's going on out there team?"

I yelled over my shoulder, "What do you think's going on A/C? They just fired at us!" I heard a small whimper to my right. I looked down at the small, scared child currently rolled up in a ball with tears streaming down his face. My heart clenched at the sight, "Coulson, take Ethan back with you and strap him in on your lap, there's not enough seats for everyone. Ward, you strap in too. Jake! Get up here, you're my copilot." I stated simply.

"Huh? Wha-?" was his incredibly intelligent reply.

"You heard me, I need a copilot and you're it kiddo. You can get this busted indicator working right?" I felt bad asking such a young kid to do something so complicated in such a nerve rattling situation but I didn't have time to think of a better plan at the moment.

"Uh, I-I think so," he stammered nervously.

It wasn't until I was forced to drop the plane several hundred feet that my team was spurred into action. Coulson scooped up Ethan and placed him in his lap before telling the rest of the kids and Ward to sit down and buckle up. Jake stumbled up to the cockpit and carefully sat down in the copilot seat and quickly strapped on the restraints. With everyone safely restrained I took full evasive measures. Ignoring the alarmed screams I heard behind me, I dove down to avoid the oncoming torpedo hoping to crash it into the one behind me, but to no avail.

"Damn," I muttered. I looked over to see Jake had pried open the dash board and was trying to keep several various wires and switches steady. I quickly reached down, while still keeping one hand on the controls, and opened the storage compartment by his feet to reveal a wide array of tools now at his disposal and he immediately went to work. My mind refocused on my previous task, I again tried to force the two projectiles to collide. When I again failed I realized something, and decided to bring it up with the other two agents behind me, "I think the torpedoes are remote controlled!"

I heard Ward curse, remote controlled torpedoes basically meant you were being chased by another jet with a human pilot. Except this was a suicide pilot. And their plane was strapped with explosives.

"We'll have to jump!" Coulson yelled behind me.

"Not with those chasing us, they're not just trackers," Jack piped up from his seat to my right, "They aren't just programmed to chase the plane, there are people controlling these and they can chase whoever jumps out of the plane too."

"And then it got worse," I muttered under my breath, "How's that indicator coming Jake?" I asked calmly. No need to worry the kid more than he already was.

"Not good," he said matter-of-factly as he fumbled with the device in front of him, "The best I can do is have it signal you when one of the torpedoes gets within a hundred feet of your blind spots. And that's only if I can even get it running."

"I guess that's as good as it gets then. Ward, Coulson, this won't last long so the first chance you see you get them off of this jet. Start getting them in parachutes and brief them on how to use them. I will keep the plane as steady as possible but I can't make any promises. Jake as soon as you get that system running you get back there too," Jake looked like he was about to protest, but I silenced him with a look and he quickly got back to work.

"Done!" he exclaimed proudly, "Now it should alert you when one gets too close and you can't see it."

"Good. Thank you Jake, now get back there and let them put you in a parachute. And crawl, it will help you avoid injury while the plane is moving."

"But what about you? I won't-"

"It wasn't a suggestion kid," I said as Grant grabbed him and carried him to the back of the jet.

"But what about her?!" I heard one of the girls (probably Alisa) exclaim from behind me.

"Belle can take care of herself," Coulson replied, "She knows what she's doing" I couldn't help but smirk at that comment, because in reality I had no idea how I was going to get off of the jet after I distracted the torpedoes.

"She better," Ward muttered, "What is your plan anyways?"

I smirked, "You know I never reveal my master plans," I lied through my teeth.

"Bull!" Grant replied curtly, "I'm not leaving until you have your scrawny ass strapped in a parachute."

I groaned, "We don't have time for this, Grant! I have a parachute under my seat and as soon as everyone is off I will set the jet for a collision course and jump. Happy?"

"Very," Coulson said sarcastically, "As soon as we are all off you jump, understand?" he asked in a way that told me the matter wasn't up for discussion. Grant still looked unsatisfied, but didn't argue with Coulson.

"You got it A/C," I said, using the nickname I adopted from Skye, and opened the hatch in the back of the jet, "Happy falling," I stated sarcastically and saw them off with a mock salute. Once I saw the last person jump screaming out of the plane, I chuckled and set the collision course.

Knowing I was racing the clock, I clumsily pulled on my parachute and jumped out of the hatch just as the plane collided with the torpedoes.

* * *

The resulting explosion sent debris flying everywhere and left me dazed. I hissed in pain as a hot chunk of metal grazed my left arm. The pain put me on full alert. I looked down at my team and cursed as I saw that a piece of debris, possibly the same one that hit me, sliced through two of the ropes connecting Alisa's harness to her parachute causing her to plummet towards the ground. Both Ward and Coulson already had their parachutes deployed and wouldn't possibly be able to reach her in time. Realizing what I had to do, I formulated plan and dove towards her.

The only flaw in my plan was that I was afraid that my parachute wouldn't be able to lower us both at a safe enough speed. But I couldn't worry about that now, right now my priority was to reach Alisa before she hit the ground.

"It's alright, I've got you," I said soothingly to stop her screaming once I reached her, "I'm going to activate my parachute now but I can't guarantee that it will slow us both effectively enough," I explained while she just nodded dumbly, clearly terrified and at loss as to how I remained calm. I clipped her onto my harness and prepared to open the chute.

And of course, exactly what I didn't want to happen, happened. The instant I opened the parachute I noticed that we were going much faster than we should have been.

I turned towards Alisa and shouted over the wind, "We're going too fast. Brace yourself, this is going to hurt!" I then hoisted her up above me by the harness to attempt to shield her from some of the impact, but I knew it wouldn't do much good. In the last precious seconds I had an Idea and went to work, quickly strapping the parachute to her back securely and unclipping myself from her harness when we were ten feet from the ground. I fell towards the snow covered earth and rolled to let my shoulder take the brunt of the impact. I heard a sickening pop and pain ripped through my right arm. I didn't give it a second glance though, I needed to make sure Alisa landed safely.

I spun in a circle and saw the parachute billow towards the ground. I sighed in relief and ran towards it. Suddenly I heard a pained groan and labored breathing that made my heart skip a beat. I ran faster. Coulson trusted me with these kids even though I was a kid myself, he trusted me to protect them and teach them how to protect themselves. I hadn't even gotten to know any of them yet and I was already attached. What would I do if-

No. I wouldn't let that happen. With renewed vigor I pulled out my switchblade and cut through the thick canvas parachute. Underneath I found Alisa safe and sound. I sighed with relief internally, then I noticed her clutching her leg tightly.

"Are you alright?" I asked concerned, when she shook her head no I crouched down next to her and inspected her leg. After concluding my diagnosis I clucked my tongue, "Damn, I'm pretty sure it's broken."

She glanced at me with a scared eyes showing through her pained expression.

I smiled to calm her nerves, "Don't worry, a broken ankle isn't that serious. We can have you fixed up in no time, I'm just glad you're not more severely hurt."

She nodded through the pain and her eyes flicked between my left and right sides, "Your arms…" she muttered quietly.

It took me a second to understand what she was saying. I looked down at my arms in shock. I hadn't even given my injuries a second thought. As I looked at my injuries in full depth for the first time, I realized that the laceration on my arm would need stitches, and my right shoulder was most likely dislocated. I would need to have Ward look at it, and probably relocate it. Good thing I'm left-handed.

"I'm fine," I reassured her just as the rest of the group came running up to us.

"Are you guys all right?" Coulson asked as he slowed to a jog. I stood up to greet him and swayed as a fresh wave of pain washed over me.

"She has a broken ankle, but other than that, she's fine," I stated wearily. Coulson noticed my fatigue and put his hand on my shoulder to steady me, but quickly withdrew when I winced.

"You're injured too, aren't you," Coulson said as he looked me up and down, "Ward, take a look at her. I'll set Alisa's ankle and brace it as best I can. Was anyone else hiding an injury?" he said pointedly at me. I shook my head no, but he still didn't look completely satisfied, "And make sure she doesn't have any other injuries." he stated to Ward, before turning back to tend to Alisa.

Alisa whimpered as Coulson took her leg in his hands, "I'm sorry, but I have to set it," he said quietly, "It's going to hurt. I'm going to count to three and then I'll set okay? One…two…" he pulled her ankle into place with a loud crack. I winced in sympathy as Grant looked me over, but luckily she was too surprised to scream and just gasped in pain.

"Yup, it's definitely dislocated," Grant said before yanking my arm back into its socket without warning.

I groaned from the sudden pain and turned to glare at him, he returned it with full force and turned back to speak with Coulson, "I placed her shoulder back in the socket so she should be able to use it. She also has a cut on her left arm which should be fine with a few stitches."

"Good, No more injuries right guys?" Coulson turned to the rest of the group after bracing Alisa's leg.

This time Jason spoke up, "I got cut by a piece of metal from the plane, but it should be fine on its own."

"Alright, Jason, you're going to help Alisa, Belle, bandage your arm the best you can and quickly. I don't know how long we will have before they send hostiles to our position," Coulson ordered.

I took off my jacket carefully and proceeded to rip off the left sleeve. It was going to get in the way of my bandage anyways. I ripped the sleeve vertically into bandages and wrapped them around my left bicep as tightly as I could manage with one hand. Jason jogged up to Alisa and carefully helped her up, putting her arm around his shoulder while he put one around her waist to keep her upright.

"We're lucky," Ward said, "There's a S.H.I.E.L.D. base just a few miles from here."

"Alright, then let's get going," Coulson stated, "If we hurry, we should reach the base before it gets too dark to see."

I started to walk with the rest of my team when I felt something stop me. I looked down and saw Ethan holding my hand while looking up at me with big eyes. I smiled warmly at him and squeezed his hand.

"How you holding up down there, midget?" I asked ruffling his hair affectionately. He just looked down and blushed. Ethan tugged on my arm leading me towards the receding group. I could only hope we would reach the base before something bad happened.

 ** _Sneak Peek of Chapter 2_**

"They're moving in!" Ward shouted over the gunshots, "We need to get them too safety!"

"That's a bit difficult right now!" Belle shouted back, "In case you haven't noticed, we have an army on our asses, and a bunch of untrained kids. One of which, by the way, is injured -"

"Who's fault is that, huh?!" Ward yelled not even bothering to look at me, "If you hadn't been so reckless on the plane then that never would have happened!"

Coulson Intervened before their argument escalated, "Enough! We don't have time for this you two! Ward! You and I will slowly lead the group away from danger, only take one at a time to avoid being spotted. Belle, your job is to cover us."

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** The more reviews I get, the faster I update. More detailed backstories, including Belle's, will hopefully be in the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I hope to update before next week.


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